How test out Mac OS 8 on Linux
Macintosh.js is an Electron (web-based) virtual machine that allows the user to experience Mac OS 8 as if they had a real Mac OS computer. The VM comes with a wide variety of applications, games, and tools you can use out of nostalgia.
As Macintosh.js is a web-based utility, you will not need to make use of Oracle VM VirtualBox to use it. Instead, all you need to do is download the latest release of the app from the developer’s GitHub page and install it as a standard package.
Install Macintosh.js
To start the installation process of Macintosh.js on your Linux PC, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. After that, run the installation commands below that corresponds with the Linux OS you currently use to get everything up and running.
Ubuntu
To install the Macintosh.js application on Ubuntu, you need to grab the standalone DEB package from the developer’s GitHub page and install it using the package manager. To download the DEB, use the following wget command down below.
wget https://github.com/felixrieseberg/macintosh.js/releases/download/v1.0.6/macintosh.js_1.0.6_amd64.deb
After downloading the DEB package to your computer, the installation of the virtual machine is done with the apt install command below.
sudo apt install ./macintosh.js_1.0.6_amd64.deb
When the installation is done in the terminal, you will have Macintosh.js working on Ubuntu.
Debian
Debian users can install the Macintosh.js application in the same way as Ubuntu users: by downloading the DEB package from the internet and installing it using the package manager. To grab the latest DEB release of the VM for Debian, enter the following wget command below in a terminal.
wget https://github.com/felixrieseberg/macintosh.js/releases/download/v1.0.6/macintosh.js_1.0.6_amd64.deb
After downloading the Macintosh.js DEB package from the internet, you can install it on Debian using the dpkg command.
sudo dpkg -i macintosh.js_1.0.6_amd64.deb
The installation should be quick. When the process is complete, you will have to set up Macintosh.js on your Debian Linux PC.
Arch Linux
The developer of Macintosh.js does not have an official Pacman package for the VM for Arch Linux users. Thankfully, there is an AUR package, so it is still possible to get it working. To install Macintosh.js, start by setting up the Trizen AUR helper. It will make setting up the Mac OS 8 VM much easier.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri
After setting up the Trizen AUR helper, you will be able to get Macintosh.js working using the following trizen -S command.
trizen -S macintosh.js-bin
Fedora
On Fedora Linux, the way to get Macintosh.js working is by downloading the latest RPM package from the developer’s GitHub. Thankfully, as the Fedora package manager supports grabbing RPM packages directly, there is no need to use wget. Using the dnf install command, download and install the RPM.
sudo dnf install https://github.com/felixrieseberg/macintosh.js/releases/download/v1.0.6/macintosh.js-1.0.6-1.x86_64.rpm
OpenSUSE
OpenSUSE users, like Fedora users, must download the RPM package from the developer’s GitHub page to use the VM. To start the installation, use the wget command below.
wget https://github.com/felixrieseberg/macintosh.js/releases/download/v1.0.6/macintosh.js-1.0.6-1.x86_64.rpm
After downloading the RPM package, install it using the Zypper package manager.
sudo zypper install macintosh.js-1.0.6-1.x86_64.rpm
Test out games on Macintosh.js
The Macintosh.js virtual machine has several game demos included with it. If you want to try out these games, do the following. First, locate the red “Games” folder on the Macintosh.js virtual machine desktop, and click on it with the mouse. Once you click on this folder, the Finder file manager will appear.
In the Finder file manager, there are several game choices to choose from. They are Dungeons & Dragons, Oregon Trail, Damage Incorporated, Alley 19 Bowling, Duke Nukem 3D, and Civilization 2.
To play any of these games, select the folder of the game you wish to play. Then, double-click on the app icon. It will then start up in the Macintosh.js virtual machine. Though, keep in mind, it may be a bit slow as the VM does not have a lot of memory to work with.
Test out programs on Macintosh.js
Aside from gaming, Macintosh.js has apps that you can use. To access the apps on the Macintosh.js VM, do the following. First, click on the green “Apps” folder with the mouse. When you select the folder, the Mac OS Finder file browser will appear on the screen.
Inside the Finder file browser, there are several different apps to test out. To use any of the apps in the folder, select the program folder, followed by the program icon. It will instantly launch the VM. To close any app, click on the close window on the left-hand part of the window title bar.
